MILLENNIUM FILMS
PRESENTS
A
TWO TON FILMS PRODUCTION
A FILM BY JUSTIN
ZACKHAM
ROBERT DE NIRO KATHERINE HEIGL DIANE KEATON
AMANDA SEYFRIED TOPHER GRACE
WITH SUSAN SARANDON AND ROBIN WILLIAMS AS FATHER MOINIGHAN
BEN BARNES CHRISTINE EBERSOLE DAVID RASCHE PATRICIA RAE ANA AYORA
CASTING BY BARBARA FIORENTINO, CSA
COSTUME DESIGNER AUDE BRONSON-HOWARD
PRODUCTION DESIGNER ANDREW JACKNESS
DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY JONATHAN BROWN A.S.C.
EDITED BY JONATHAN CORN A.C.E.
MUSIC BY NATHAN BARR
CO PRODUCER MATT O’TOOLE
EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS THIERRY SPICHER PHILIPPE MARTIN
EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS AVI LERNER DANNY DIMBORT TREVOR SHORT
BOAZ DAVIDSON JOHN THOMPSON
BASED ON THE MOTION PICTURE “MON FRERE SE MARIE” AND BASED ON AN ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
WRITTEN BY JEAN-STEPHANE BRON AND KARINE SUDAN
AND PRODUCED BY BOX PRODUCTIONS AND LES FILMS PELLEAS
SCREENPLAY BY JUSTIN ZACKHAM
PRODUCED BY CLAY PECORIN HARRY J. UFLAND JUSTIN ZACKHAM
PRODUCED BY RICHARD SALVATORE ANTHONY KATAGAS
DIRECTED BY JUSTIN ZACKHAM
© 2012 WEDDING PRODUCTIONS, INC.
Synopsis
With an all-star cast lead by Diane Keaton, Robert De Niro, Susan Sarandon and Robin
Williams, THE WEDDING is a smart, witty and often outrageous comedy that gives an intimate
view of a modern family through their highs and lows over a single weekend of celebration.
In THE WEDDING, Don and Ellie Griffin (Robert De Niro and Diane Keaton), long divorced, are
suddenly thrown back together for the sake of their adopted son’s wedding when his very
conservative biological mother decides to come in for the nuptials. The Griffin’s soon learn that
acting the happily married couple is not so easy and especially awkward for Don’s girlfriend,
Bebe (Sarandon). In the midst of these charades, the Griffin’s children face their own troubles
as Lyla (Katherine Heigl) struggles with a secret, Jared (Topher Grace) contemplates his love
life or lack thereof, and Alejandro (Ben Barnes) tries to keep everyone together, including his
new bride, Missy (Amanda Seyfried) who is appeasing her parents by getting married by a
priest (Robin Williams) in a traditional Catholic wedding.
Writer, Director and Producer, Justin Zackham (The Bucket List), is the mastermind behind THE
WEDDING and designed the film in the vein of a European comedy with a subtle dramatic
underpinning that captures the idiosyncrasies of family life. Throughout the film, the Griffin’s are
amusingly and poignantly forced to watch their past, present and future unravel for everyone to
see... all while trying not to kill each other in the process.
2 About the Production
Weddings are by their very nature, stressful. Emotions run rampant and so often, the pressure
of capturing the illusive perfect wedding and meeting expectations takes away from what is
bringing the happy couple together in the first place. Add an eccentric family to the mix and
chaos and mishaps are bound to ensue.
When writer, director and producer Justin Zackham began to conceive of this project, he was
initially inspired by the premise of the French-Swiss film Mon frère se marie where an adopted
son asks his adoptive parents, who have since become divorced, to pretend to be married for
the weekend of his wedding.
From there, Zackham took his story in a different direction
thematically with his own wedding experience in the back of his mind. “We were ready to elope,”
said Zackham. “And then two days before, she said she couldn’t do it because her mom would
kill her. We went through hell for the next year and a half preparing for the wedding. People do
crazy things around weddings for reasons that if you’d talk to them any other time of their life,
they’d say they’d never do such a thing.”
In writing the film, Zackham was also guided by his hometown of Greenwich, Connecticut with
its country clubs, private schools and high society life, where he was actually an outsider looking
in. “As the sort of poor token Jew[let’s ask Annie]—I saw how these kind of crazy, rich,
wonderful families interacted with each other—they could fall apart and come together so
easily,” said Zackham. These memories of growing up in Connecticut influenced Zackham’s
development of the characters and the quirky functionality of the Griffin family.
Costume Designer, Aude Bronson-Howard worked with Zackham to find the feel for THE
WEDDING that was typical of the area, yet at the same time atypical given the story they are
trying to tell. There was a balance in finding a look that wasn’t too formal or stuffy for the
Griffin’s. “A lot of these characters are so non-conventional even though they’re in conventional
Greenwich, Connecticut, said Bronson-Howard. “As in every film, you have to give people their
own individuality, their own personality.”
In THE WEDDING, the older generation is actually much more unruly than the younger
generation and so Bronson-Howard dressed the younger characters a little more traditional and
conservative than the older characters. For the wedding, Bronson-Howard kept the look light
with a floral theme from the dress to the interiors of the wedding tent and the cake, and all of the
center pieces. “I looked to English garden parties for inspiration because it’s often informal and
people aren’t afraid of color and it felt like there’s more culture that way,” said Bronson-Howard.
“And I thought why not bring a little bit of that here to this Greenwich extravaganza.”
As fate would have it, Zackham’s decision to shoot in Greenwich, Connecticut became a
common bond for several of the producers and cast members. Producer Richard Salvatore who
was married in Connecticut recalls, “Everything came full circle. Producer Clay Pecorin is from
Connecticut, Justin’s from Connecticut and I didn’t even realize that Katherine (Heigl) and
Topher (Grace) were also from Connecticut till further down the road.” The familiar setting
helped ease the cast into their family dynamic for the film. “Katie Heigl is a longtime friend of
mine, who’s from the next town over in Connecticut,” said Grace. “So it’s been amazing to have
that kind of connection with someone and play that sister/brother relationship. It’s like, if you had
to choose someone to be your sister, where you guys kind of finish each other’s sentences—
she’s the one you you’ve got to choose.”
3 “That Connecticut connection...,” says Heigl. “When Topher signed on to do the project, I knew
it would be fun because he and I have this banter. I knew we were going to have a great time
working together, and I’d have my buddy on set with me.”
The playful and familiar atmosphere on set helped shape what was taking place on screen with
the Griffin’s. “Everyone is having so much fun on this movie, myself included,” said Zackham.
“We shot a scene one day where you looked through the lens and it’s at a point where it’s not
Robert De Niro, Diane Keaton and everyone anymore—they actually feel like a family.”
“Justin, I think, went out of his way to create a kind of society here that would bleed into the
film,” said Grace. “We’re all hanging out in our free time, and that rarely happens, that you
voluntarily, after spending 16 hours together, want to hang out.
“The atmosphere on set has been great and I think that all starts at the top,” said Salvatore. “If
you have a great director that cares about his actors, then the actors care more about the film.
Every person on the movie has brought their A game and are getting along really well.”
Salvatore was drawn to the project because of Zackham’s ability to not only write comedy, but
the underlying dramatic moments as well. “I thought this had a lot of heart,” said Salvatore. “I
thought that with this powerful of a script; we would be able to put together a strong cast.” And
that’s exactly what happened as Zackham and Salvatore got Keaton interested from the very
beginning and found the perfect ‘Don Griffin’ to play opposite her in Robert De Niro. “It was
always De Niro in our minds,” said Salvatore. “But he’d been busy while we were putting the film
together and then finally there was a break, and we dove in. Once he was interested we got
Heigl involved and it became something where everyone else wanted to be a part of the movie.”
“With all of these people, Diane, Susan, Bob, it’s a wonderful cast,” said Robin Williams. “To be
a part of this ensemble is kind of why I took the role—it’s like a paid vacation. Don’t tell
anybody... but it’s lovely.”
Walking into a cast that includes Academy Award® winners Diane Keaton, Robert De Niro,
Susan Sarandon and Robin Williams can be daunting for a young actor, but as Seyfried
explains, “They are all serious and well-respected actors, but you get all of us in a group and it
doesn’t feel daunting. They are so intelligent, and completely their own, which makes acting
opposite them more interesting and natural.”
Ben Barnes found himself pausing and trying to wrap his head around working with such a
seasoned cast. “My very first scene—my second day—was with Bob, Diane, and Susan and I
just thought... ‘How did I end up here?’,” said Barnes. “I think about day five, I finished a scene
with Bob and he sort of put his arm around me and said, ‘See you tomorrow kiddo.’ I was like,
kiddo, that’s me, that’s my new name, officially.”
There was a very specific moment when Topher Grace suddenly realized there were four
Academy Award® winners in front of him. “I was sitting at this table the other day, and
everyone’s got an Academy Award® but me,” laughs Grace. “To be able to do a comedy scene
with Robin Williams or do a heartfelt emotional scene with Robert De Niro or Diane Keaton, or
work with Susan Sarandon, whose work I’ve loved forever—I feel so lucky and it doesn’t get any
better than this.”
With vast experience came a freedom and comfort level of improvisation for Keaton, De Niro,
Sarandon and Williams. Heigl recalls, “They taught me a lot in that they tend to improvise and
4 just get into character in a way where they just sort of say what they think and feel in the
moment. And it is in that moment that they think of the most brilliant thing to say. That’s talent
and experience and wisdom and genius. We can’t all do that.”
THE WEDDING is very much told through the eyes of Ellie Griffin (Diane Keaton) who comes
home for the first time in ten years to the house that she and her ex-husband Don Griffin
(Robert De Niro) shared with their three children. The film opens with Ellie Griffin stopping by
the red maple tree where their moments as a family are captured in time, immediately giving the
audience the sense that theirs is a close-knit family.
THE WEDDING moves directly into the more outrageously funny territory as we’re introduced to
Don Griffin (Robert De Niro) and his longtime girlfriend, Bebe McBride (Susan Sarandon). As
Don Griffin, Robert De Niro is in rare form. Zackham explains, “Bob has traditionally played the
straight guy in comedies and I feel that, though he may disagree, for the first time he’s the comic
character.” Zackham continues, “He’s stealing scenes and he’s laugh out loud funny and has
this great chemistry with Diane where you just completely buy that they’re exes.”
“Don Griffin is definitely curmudgeonly and just wants to keep the peace, said Zackham. “He
doesn’t like any drama and he just wants to keep things nice and smooth—everyone have a
good time—but of course that never works out.
Sarandon’s character, Bebe McBride, has been with Don Griffin for over ten years and has
settled into her place as the eccentric step-mother in the family, but over the course of the
weekend, she’s forced to revisit her past and reevaluate her relationship with Don.
With the dynamics between these three characters already complicated enough, they suddenly
find themselves thrown into an awkward situation when Don and Ellie must pretend they are still
married for the weekend of their youngest son’s wedding. Alejandro (Ben Barnes) was adopted
by the Griffin’s at a very young age and has never told his very conservative biological mother
(Patricia Rae) that his adoptive parents divorced. Thinking his mother would never travel to the
United States for his wedding, Alejandro is caught off guard when she agrees to attend.
Conflicted with the secret he’s kept for years, he decides it’s best to continue the lie for the
duration of the weekend to keep the peace and not upset his mother.
“Alejandro’s brought up for the first few years of his life by a very Catholic family in Columbia
and then moves to America to be raised by a Jewish/Buddhist mother and a father who thinks
that any organized religion is for morons,” said Barnes. “So the idea that his biological mother
gave up her only son so that he could have a chance at a better life in the States with a
‘dysfunctional’ family that would commit a treacherous sin of divorce is more than he can
handle.”
“My character is very catholic and I think there are circumstances in her life that really make her
cling to her beliefs,” said Rae. “So Alejandro is under this misconception that she’s a very
closed-minded woman but she is really just as human as everyone else.”
While his decision to protect the feelings of his biological mother may be in her best interest and
the wisest decision to keep the peace for his wedding, Alejandro has unintentionally thrown his
adoptive parents and Bebe for a loop.
5 Meanwhile, Alejandro’s fiancé, Missy O’Connor (Amanda Seyfried), is struggling with her
parents who are less than thrilled that their daughter is marrying someone from another country
and from such an unconventional family. “She loves her parents even though they’re uptight
and sticklers about certain traditions,” says Seyfried. “I think they did not see this for her, even
though she is obviously very much in love with Alejandro.”
As Muffin O’Connor, Christine Ebersol explains, “They want to set their daughter on the right
path so she can be as admired as they’d like to be. Accepting their future son-in-law has them a
bit anxious because it’s not really what they had in mind and not being able to control that
produces anxiety.”
Both Alejandro and Missy have decided, against their own wishes, to be married in a traditional
Catholic wedding to please her parents and his biological mother. As the priest, Father
Monaghan (Robin Williams) is from a very wealthy parish that is very much in keeping with what
the O’Connor’s would approve of.
The Griffin’s two other children, Jared (Topher Grace) and Lyla (Katherine Heigl) come into
town for the wedding with their own share of baggage. On coming home, Jared finds himself
questioning his decision to remain a virgin until he meets Alejandro’s sister from Columbia,
Nuria (Ana Ayora) and falls in love. “Jared’s almost 30 and he’s carved his own path, but he’s
starting to waiver,” said Grace. “Then he kind of falls head over heels immediately for his
adopted brother’s biological sister. He’s got a lot of issues in terms of what this means.”
“Nuria takes advantage of her sexuality to lure him in with a certain freedom that he doesn’t
have, but she ends up really caring about him and it turns out better than she would have even
imagined it to be,” added Ayora.
Lyla’s marriage is on the rocks and she has a secret that she knows will complicate matters.
Since the divorce, her relationship with her father has been strained and this weekend is the first
in a long time that they’ve spent together. “Lyla’s biggest problem with her father is the fear of
becoming like him because they are so similar,” said Heigl. “But she finally sort of looks at him
and goes—he is who he is, I am who I am, we love differently but it’s still enough.”
With all of their differences and quirks, this is a family that loves each other and supports each
other through all of life’s moments. “This is a film about a wedding, but even more about
family,” said Grace. “More importantly, it shows all different kinds of love represented in a real
modern family is .”
“I hope when our movie is out in theaters, that everyone brings their families,” said Salvatore.
“Because not only is this a feel good comedy, it’s also heartfelt and something that everyone
should be able to relate to.”
6 About the Cast
DIANE KEATON / Ellie Griffin
Since her screen debut in Lovers and Other Strangers, Diane Keaton has proven to be an
extremely versatile actress, director and producer. Her acting career spans over twenty-five
movie greats, including The Godfather Trilogy, Looking for Mr. Goodbar, Annie Hall, for which
she received a best actress Academy Award, and the smash hits Father of the Bride and The
First Wives Club. Ms. Keaton also received Academy Award nominations for her role in the film
Something’s Gotta Give, Reds and for her poignant performance in Marvin’s Room. Thus,
making history as the only actress to have had an Academy Award nomination once in every
decade.
Ms. Keaton has also received praise as a director, beginning with her work on Heaven and
culminating with the critically acclaimed Unstrung Heroes.
Ms. Keaton won the Golden Globe for her performance in Something’s Gotta Give, written and
directed by Nancy Meyers, and co-starring Jack Nicholson. She also received National Board
of Review award for this performance.
As a producer, she is proud to have worked with Gus Van Sant on his critically acclaimed film,
Elephant, which won the Palm d’Or at the Cannes film festival last year. She has starred in and
executive produced the Lifetime TV movie, On Thin Ice, which dealt with a mother’s
methamphetamine addiction for which she won a Prism Award for her compelling performance.
She directed and executive produced, the TV pilot Pasadena for Fox Television. She has also
directed and co-starred in Hanging Up, with Meg Ryan, Lisa Kudrow and Walter Matthau, and
contributed performances to The Other Sister, directed by Garry Marshall.
Ms. Keaton currently has a book out that she edited showcasing her collection of amateur clown
paintings, for Lookout and Powerhouse books, entitled Clown Paintings. In Fall 2007, her fifth
published book with Rizzoli titled Casa Romantica is expected with great anticipation.
Early 2007 saw the release of the comedy Because I Said So. In April 2007, Diane began
production on her latest project in Louisiana with Queen Latifah and Katie Holmes called Mad
Money which is directed by Callie Khouri. (Thelma and Louise)
2007 also marks the year that Diane is recognized with the Lincoln Center Honors in New York.
Shifting effortlessly from comedy to drama and back again, Diane Keaton continues to captivate
and delight her audiences with every project she devotes herself to.
ROBERT DE NIRO / Don Griffin
Robert De Niro launched his prolific motion picture career in Brian De Palma's “The Wedding
Party” in 1969. By 1973 De Niro had twice won the New York Film Critics Award for Best
Supporting Actor in recognition of his critically acclaimed performances in “Bang the Drum
Slowly” and Martin Scorsese's “Mean Streets.”
In 1974 De Niro won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his portrayal of the
young Vito Corleone in “The Godfather, Part II.” In 1980 he won his second Oscar, as Best
Actor, for his extraordinary portrayal of Jake La Motta in Scorsese's “Raging Bull.”
7 De Niro has earned Academy Award nominations for his work in four additional films: as Travis
Bickle in Scorsese's acclaimed “Taxi Driver,” as a Vietnam vet in Michael Cimino's “The Deer
Hunter,” as a catatonic patient brought to life in Penny Marshall's “Awakenings,” and in 1992 as
Max Cady, an ex-con looking for revenge, in Scorsese's remake of the 1962 classic “Cape
Fear.”
In 2009, De Niro received the coveted Kennedy Center Honor for his distinguished acting. He
also received the Hollywood Actor Award from the Hollywood Film Festival and the Stanley
Kubrick Award from the BAFTA Britannia Awards. In addition, AARP the magazine gave De
Niro the 2010 Movies for Grownups Lifetime Achievement Award.
De Niro was honored with the Cecil B. DeMille Award at the 2011 Golden Globe Award. He also
served as the jury president of the 64th Cannes Film Festival.
De Niro’s upcoming film projects include the action thriller, “The Killer Elite” which Open Road
Films will release in September.
De Niro also stars in Garry Marshall's “New Year's Eve,” New Line's ensemble love story followup to its “Valentine's Day” movie.
De Niro’s recent film credits include Relativity Media’s thriller “Limitless,” “Little Fockers,” the
third installment of the highly successful Tribeca Productions’ “Meet the Parents” franchise,
Filmauro’s Italian romantic comedy, “Manuale d'amore 3,” Nu Image Films’ psychological thriller
“Stone,” and 20th Century Fox’s “Machete.”
His distinguished body of work also includes performances in Elia Kazan's “The Last Tycoon”;
Bernardo Bertolucci's “1900”; Ulu Grosbard's “True Confessions” and “Falling in Love”; Sergio
Leone's “Once Upon a Time in America”; Scorsese's “King of Comedy,” “New York, New York,”
“Goodfellas,” and “Casino”; Terry Gilliam's “Brazil”; Roland Joffe's “The Mission”; Brian De
Palma's “The Untouchables”; Alan Parker's “Angel Heart”; Martin Brest's “Midnight Run”; David
Jones' “Jacknife”; Martin Ritt's “Stanley and Iris”; Neil Jordan's “We're No Angels”; Penny
Marshall's “Awakenings”; Ron Howard's “Backdraft”; Michael Caton-Jones' “This Boy's Life”;
John McNaughton's “Mad Dog and Glory”; Kenneth Branagh's “Mary Shelley's Frankenstein”;
Michael Mann's “Heat”; Barry Levinson's “Sleepers” and “Wag the Dog”; Jerry Zaks' “Marvin's
Room”; Tony Scott's “The Fan”; James Mangold's “Copland”; Alfonso Cuarón's “Great
Expectations”; Quentin Tarantino's “Jackie Brown”; John Frankenheimer's “Ronin”; Harold
Ramis' “Analyze This” and “Analyze That”; Joel Schumacher's “Flawless”; Des McNuff's “The
Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle”; George Tillman's “Men of Honor”; John Herzfeld’s “Fifteen
Minutes”; Frank Oz’s “The Score”; Tom Dey’s “Showtime”; Michael Caton-Jones’ “City By The
Sea;” Nick Hamm’s, “Godsend;” John Polson’s “Hide and Seek”; Mary McGuckian’s “The Bridge
of San Luis Rey”; DreamWorks's "Shark Tale" Jay Roach's “Meet The Parents,” and "Meet the
Fockers," Barry Levinson’s “What Just Happened,” Jon Avnet’s “Righteous Kill” and Kirk Jones’
“Everybody’s Fine.”
De Niro takes pride in the development of his production company, Tribeca Productions, the
Tribeca Film Center, which he founded with Jane Rosenthal in 1988, and in the Tribeca Film
Festival, which he founded with Rosenthal and Craig Hatkoff in 2001 as a response to the
attacks on the World Trade Center. The festival was conceived to foster the economic and
cultural revitalization of Lower Manhattan through an annual celebration of film, music, and
8 culture, the festival’s mission is to promote New York City as a major filmmaking center and
help filmmakers reach the broadest possible audiences.
Through Tribeca Productions, De Niro develops projects on which he serves in a combination of
capacities, including producer, director and actor.
Tribeca's “A Bronx Tale” in 1993 marked De Niro’s directorial debut. He later directed and costarred in “The Good Shepherd” with Matt Damon and Angelina Jolie.
Other Tribeca features include “Thunderheart,” “Cape Fear,” “Mistress,” “Night and the City,”
“The Night We Never Met,” “Faithful,” “Panther,” “Marvin's Room,” “Wag the Dog,” “Analyze
This,” “Flawless,” “ The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle,” “Meet the Parents,” “Fifteen
Minutes,” “Showtime,” “Analyze That” and “Meet the Fockers.”
In 1992, Tribeca TV was launched with the acclaimed series “Tribeca.” De Niro was one of the
executive producers.
In 1998, Tribeca produced a miniseries for NBC, based on the life of “Sammy ‘The Bull’
Gravano.”
Tribeca Productions is headquartered at De Niro's Tribeca Film Center in the TriBeCa district of
New York. The Film Center is a state-of-the-art office building designed for the film and
television industry. The facility features office space, a screening room, banquet hall and
restaurant. The center offers a full range of services for entertainment professionals.
SUSAN SARANDON / Bebe McBride
The extremely versatile actress brings her own brand of sex appeal and intelligence to every
role – – from her fearless portrayal in “Bull Durham” to her Oscar-nominated performances in
“Thelma and Louise,” “Lorenzo’s Oil,” “The Client,” and “Atlantic City” to her Academy Awardwinning and SAG Award winning role in “Dead Man Walking” as Sister Helen, a nun consoling a
death-row inmate.
Sarandon has been seen in “Wall Street 2: Money Never Sleeps” for director Oliver Stone, in
“Lovely Bones” for director Peter Jackson, “Enchanted”, “Speed Racer” for Larry and Andy
Wachowski, “Elizabethtown” for director Cameron Crowe, “Shall We Dance?,” “The Banger
Sisters” , “Mr. Woodcock,” “In the Valley of Elah” for director Paul Haggis, “Alfie,” “Moonight
Mile,” “Igby Goes Down,” “Romance and Cigarettes,” “Twilight,” “Step Mom,” and “The Hunger”
Sarandon made her acting debut in the movie “Joe,” which she followed with a continuing role in
the TV drama “A World Apart.” Her early film credits include “The Great Waldo Pepper,” “Lovin’
Molly,” Billy Wilder’s “The Front Page” and the 1975 cult classic “The Rocky Horror Picture
Show.” In 1978 she played Brooke Shields’ mother in Louis Malle’s controversial “Pretty Baby”
and went on to receive her first Oscar nomination in Malle’s “Atlantic City.”
Her additional feature credits include: “The Witches of Eastwick,” “Cradle Will Rock,” “King of
the Gypsies,” “Compromising Positions,” “The January Man,” “White Palace,” “The Buddy
System,” “Sweet Hearts Dance,” “A Dry White Season,” “Bob Roberts,” “Light Sleeper,” “Little
Women,” and “Safe Passage.”
On Broadway, Sarandon appeared in Gore Vidal’s “An Evening with Richard Nixon” and
received critical acclaim for her performances Off-Broadway in “A Coupla of White Chicks
9 Sitting Around Talkin’“ and the thriller “Extremities.” She also appeared, Off-Off-Broadway, in
the moving post September 11th stage play “The Guys.” In 2009, she returned to Broadway and
starred in “Exit the King” with Geoffrey Rush.
The hard-working actress has made a career of choosing diverse and challenging projects both
in film and television. In 2008 she received an Emmy Nomination for Outstanding Lead Actress
in a Miniseries for her role in the HBO film “Bernard and Doris” as well as a Golden Globe and
Sag nomination. She received an Emmy and SAG nomination for her work in Barry Levinson’s
“You Don't Know Jack” with Al Pacino for HBO.
She starred in the 2003 CBS Movie “Ice Bound” as Dr. Jerri Nielson - based on Nielson’s real
life survival story - and as Princess Wensicia Corrino in the Sci Fi Channel Mini Series “Children
of Dune.” Sarandon also appeared in the TV Movie “The Exonerated,” directed by Bob
Balaban.
She also starred in HBO’s “Earthly Possessions,” based on the Anne Tyler novel and directed
by James Lapine; in the CBS Movie “Women of Valor;” and the HBO Miniseries “Mussolini: The
Decline and Fall of Il Duce” opposite Bob Hoskins and Anthony Hopkins.
She has made guest appearances on 30 Rock and in the “Mother Lover” video on Saturday
Night Live.
In addition to her many on screen credits, she lent her vocal talents to the animated features
“Rugrats in Paris,” “James and the Giant Peach,” and “Cats & Dogs” and provided narration
many documentaries including Laleh Khadivi’s documentary “900 Women,” about female prison
inmates.
ROBIN WILLIAMS / Father Moinighan
An Academy Award and Emmy-winning actor and a multiple Grammy Award-winning performer,
unparalleled in the scope of his imagination, Robin Williams continues to add to his repertoire of
indelible characters.
Williams recently appeared on the New York stage in his Broadway acting debut as the title
character in Rajiv Joseph’s play, Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo. He earned raves for his
performance, with The New York Times saying he “gives a performance of focused intelligence
and integrity” and The Los Angeles Times calling it “an impressive feat of stagecraft that only
this performer could have pulled off.” The critically acclaimed play earned six Drama Desk
Awards, nominations, three Outer Critics Circle Award nominations and three Drama League
Award nominations, including one for Distinguished Performance for Williams.
Williams began his career as a stand-up comedian, and he returned to stand-up from 2008 –
2010 with the critically acclaimed, sold-out comedy tour Weapons of Self Destruction. Over the
course of the tour, Williams performed in 65 cities across the country, as well as in London,
Canada, Australia and New Zealand, grossing an astounding $40 million. Additionally,
Weapons was taped over two nights at Washington, DC's DAR Constitution Hall and aired on
HBO, becoming the network’s highest rated stand-up comedy special of the year and earning
three Emmy Award nominations, including one for Outstanding Variety, Music or Comedy
Special. The CD recording of the show was also nominated for a Grammy Award.
Well known for his free-associative monologues and for pointing out life's absurdities through
his astute social and political observations, Williams' previous comedy tour was in 2002. After a
10 16-year absence from the stand-up scene, he hit the road and toured America with a critically
acclaimed one-man show that became the highest-grossing comedy tour ever and culminated in
a final performance filmed by HBO and broadcast live from New York on July 14, 2002. The
special, entitled Robin Williams: Live on Broadway, was nominated for five Emmy Awards.
On the big screen, Williams was most recently seen starring in the dark comedy, World's
Greatest Dad. The film premiered to critical praise at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival and
Robin's performance has been touted as one of the best of his career. Bobcat Goldthwait
directed the film, which was released by Magnolia Pictures at the end of August 2009.
In 1997, Williams received an Oscar and Screen Actors Guild award for his performance as
'Sean Maguire,' the therapist who counsels Matt Damon's math genius character in Gus Van
Sant's Good Will Hunting. The Academy previously nominated Williams for best actor in The
Fisher King, Dead Poets Society, and Good Morning Vietnam. Williams garnered a special
honor from the National Board of Review for his performance opposite Robert DeNiro in
Awakenings. In 2004, Williams received the prestigious Career Achievement Award from the
Chicago International Film festival and, in 2005, the HFPA honored him with the Cecil B.
DeMille Award for outstanding contributions to the world of entertainment.
Williams' filmography includes a number of blockbusters. In 1993, he starred in Chris Columbus'
Mrs. Doubtfire. For Mike Nichols, Williams portrayed 'Armand Goldman' in The Birdcage, for
which the cast won a SAG ensemble award. In 1996, both The Birdcage and Jumanji reached
the $100 million mark in the USA in exactly the same week. Williams went on to assume the
dual roles of Peter Pan/Peter Banning in Steven Spielberg's Hook, to play a medical student
who treats patients with humor in Patch Adams and to star in Disney's Flubber. In 2006, Robin
appeared opposite Ben Stiller in the hit comedy, Night at the Museum. To date, the film has
earned over $250 million in the United States alone. In May 2009 he reprised his role as 'Teddy
Roosevelt' in the sequel, Night at the Museum 2: Battle of the Smithsonian, which so far has
earned another $400 million for the franchise worldwide. In addition, Williams' award-winning
vocal talents helped propel the Warner Bros. animated film, Happy Feet, to another $200 million
box office, as well as the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature Film.
Robin Williams first captured the attention of the world as 'Mork from Ork' on the hit series Mork
& Mindy. Born in Chicago and raised in both Michigan and California, he trained at New York's
Julliard School under John Houseman. Williams made his cinematic debut as the title character
in Robert Altman's Popeye. Additional early motion picture credits include Paul Mazursky's
Moscow on the Hudson, in which he played a Russian musician who decides to defect, and The
World According to Garp, George Roy Hill's adaptation of John Irving's acclaimed best-selling
novel about a writer and his feminist mother.
In a departure from the usual comedic and family fare he is best known for, Williams
collaborated with two accomplished young directors on dramatic thrillers. For Christopher
Nolan, he starred opposite Al Pacino as reclusive novelist 'Walter Finch,' the primary suspect in
the murder of a teenage girl in a small Alaskan town, in Insomnia. In Mark Romanek's One
Hour Photo, Williams played a photo lab employee who becomes obsessed with a young
suburban family.
Using only his voice, Williams created one of the most vivid characters in recent memory - the
'Blue Genie of the Lamp' in Disney's Aladdin. The performance redefined how animations were
voiced. Audio versions of his one-man shows and the children's record "Pecos Bill," have won
11 him five Grammy Awards. More recently Williams lent his vocal talents to the blockbuster hit
animated feature Robots.
Williams' stage credits include a landmark production of Samuel Beckett's "Waiting for Godot"
directed by Mike Nichols and co-starring Steve Martin and, most recently, a short run in San
Francisco of "The Exonerated," which tells the true stories of six innocent survivors of death
row.
Offstage, Williams takes great joy in supporting causes too numerous to identify -covering the
spectrum from health care and human rights, to education, environmental protection, and the
arts. Headlining a number of USO tours, Williams has traveled to Iraq and Afghanistan four
times to help raise morale among the troops. Williams is perhaps best known philanthropically
for his affiliation with "Comic Relief," which was founded in 1986 as a non-profit organization to
help America's homeless. To date, the overall efforts of the "Comic Relief" organization have
raised over $50 Million.
BEN BARNES / Alejandro Griffin
With three new films on the horizon, actor Ben Barnes continues to prove his talent on the big
screen.
In March 2012, Barnes will film the leading role of ‘Tom’ opposite Jeff Bridges and Julianne
Moore in the feature film “Seventh Son”. A tale of a young man, training to be an exorcist in the
1700s who must learn how to exorcise ghosts, contain witches, and bind boggarts – all in
preparation to help his master face the Queen of Witches and her army. Warner Bros.
anticipates release in 2013.
In the Summer 2011, Barnes shot the feature, “The Wedding”, playing the role of Alejandro
‘Griffin’. Ellie (Diane Keaton) and Don Griffin (Robert De Niro), long divorced, must pretend to
be husband and wife again at their adopted son Alejandro's wedding in order to appease his
deeply religious biological mother. Their ruse doesn't go over well with Bebe (Susan Sarandon),
Don's longtime live-in girlfriend and Ellie's former best friend. The film also stars Amanda
Seyfried, Katherine Heigl and Topher Grace.
Prior to shooting “The Wedding”, Barnes filmed in Montreal for independent feature “The
Words”, starring Bradley Cooper, Zoe Saldana and Dennis Quaid. A beautiful film that
documents a writer who discovers the price he must pay for stealing another author's work. This
feature is due for release in 2013.
Barnes was last seen starring as ‘Stephen Wraysford’ in Trevor Nunn’s highly anticipated West
End production of “Birdsong,” based on the international best-selling novel by Sebastian Faulks.
The play tells the story of Wraysford’s journey through an all-consuming love affair and into the
horror of the First World War. “Birdsong,” adapted by Rachel Wagstaff, opened on Tuesday,
September 28th, 2010 at the Comedy Theatre in London and run through to Saturday, January
15th, 2011.
In 2011, Barnes starred in the indie feature film “Killing Bono,” a dark comedy based on the
autobiography by Barnes’ character, ‘Neil McCormick,’ who, along with his brother, sets up a
band called ‘The Undertakers’ in Dublin in the late ‘70s only to witness their classmates and
rivals going on to become the biggest band in the world, U2. The film was release by Paramount
Pictures International in the UK and Ireland.
12 In the same year Barnes’ reprised his role as ‘King Caspian’ in “The Chronicles of Narnia: The
Voyage of the Dawn Treader,” the third installment of the feature films based on the fantasy
book series by C.S. Lewis. The film, directed by Michael Apted, was released by Twentieth
Century Fox in 3D and 2D on Thursday, December 9th and Friday, December 10th, 2010,
worldwide. He first appeared in the role of ‘Prince Caspian’ in the second film of the franchise,
“The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian,” in 2008.
Barnes also stars in “Locked In,” an independent thriller/drama, as ‘Josh,’ a man who walks
away from his career and gets kicked out of his home after cheating on his wife. An accident
then puts his young daughter in a catatonic state in which her mind is awake but she can only
move her eyes. He wonders if he has begun to lose his mind when he starts to see messages
that appear to be from his daughter. The film, directed by Suri Krishnamma and produced by
Peninsular Media, and opened the Boston Film Festival on Friday, September 17th, 2010.
In 2009, Barnes was seen starring as the title character in “Dorian Gray,” a film based on Oscar
Wilde’s classic novel. In 2008, he appeared in Sony Pictures Classics’ “Easy Virtue” with
Jessica Biel, Kristin Scott Thomas and Colin Firth. The film is based on the Noel Coward play
and directed by Stephan Elliot. In 2007, he starred as ‘Young Dunstan’ opposite Claire Danes in
“Stardust,” which also featured Robert DeNiro and Michelle Pfeiffer. Barnes also made his
feature film debut during the same year in the independent film “Bigga than Ben.”
Barnes first gained attention in London’s West End in the Wyndham’s Theatre production of the
Tony Award-winning Alan Bennett play “The History Boys.” The thrilling comedy tells the story of
eight bright, funny students guided by a maverick English teacher and headmaster, trying to get
into college in the 1980s. Barnes played one of the titular boys, ‘Dakin.’
On stage, his credits include the 2005 modern musical “Sex, Chips & Rock ‘n’ Roll” at the Royal
Exchange in Manchester, and 2004’s “Loving Ophelia” at the Pleasance Theatre in London. As
a teenager, he became a member of the National Youth Music Theatre, a UK company of young
people that runs workshops, drama courses and musical theatre productions. From 1996 to
2001, he appeared in many productions by the organization including “The Ballad of Salomon
Pavey,” “Bugsy Malone,” a celebration of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s 50th Birthday, “The Ragged
Child” and “The Dreaming.”
Barnes studied Drama and English Literature at Kingston University, where he earned his
degree in 2004. He currently resides in London.
TOPHER GRACE / Jared Griffin
Topher Grace, who was a weekly fixture in homes across America on the hit comedy series
That '70s Show, seamlessly transitioned from the small screen to the big screen. In 2004 he
was honored with Breakthrough Acting Awards by both the National Board of Review and the
New York Online Film Critics for his roles in Paul Wietz's In Good Company, starring opposite
Dennis Quaid and Scarlett Johansson, and Dylan Kidd's P.S., opposite Laura Linney.
Grace was most recently seen in HBO's Emmy-nominated film Too Big to Fail starring alongside
William Hurt and Cynthia Nixon as well as the coming of age comedy Take Me Home Tonight
with Anna Faris, which he also executive produced for Relativity Media. His additional recent
credits include Robert Rodriguez's thriller Predators with Adrien Brody and Laurence Fishburne
and Garry Marshall's Valentine's Day where he starred opposite Anne Hathaway. He will next
13 be seen in Michael Brandt's thriller The Double starring opposite Richard Gere and is currently
in production on the drama/comedy The Wedding with Robert DeNiro, Diane Keaton and
Katherine Heigl.
Grace's major breakthrough in film came with his debut role in Steven Soderbergh's Oscar
nominated Traffic, which he followed-up with memorable cameos in Soderbergh's Ocean's 11
and Ocean's 12. Grace's other credits include Robert Luketic's Win a Date With Tad Hamilton,
Mona Lisa's Smile with Julia Roberts and starring opposite Tobey Maguire and Kirsten Dunst as
the evil Venom in the third installment of the Spider-Man franchise.
Due to a tennis injury, Topher fell into acting in a high school performance of A Funny Thing
Happened On The Way To The Forum. Upon graduating, he moved to Los Angeles to attend
USC and was asked to read for the starring role of Eric Forman on That '70s Show by a high
school classmate's parents who had seen him perform. It was his first audition.
Grace now splits his time between New York and Los Angeles.
KATHERINE HEIGL / Lyla Griffin
Katherine Heigl became a box-office sensation starring first in Judd Apatow’s smash hit
comedy, Knocked Up, followed by a starring turn with Ed Burns and James Marsden in the
romantic comedy, 27 Dresses, and then opposite Gerard Butler in the romantic comedy The
Ugly Truth, which she also executive produced. These earned Heigl “Female Star of the Year”
honors at the 2010 ShoWest awards.
Heigl will next be seen starring in Gary Marshall’s New Year’s Eve opposite Jon Bon Jovi for
New Line Pictures. She also stars as bounty hunter Stephanie Plum in the Lionsgate release,
One for the Money. The story is based on the first novel in the best-selling series by author
Janet Evanovich. The book spent over 75 weeks on the best seller list and spawned 15 sequels.
Directed by Julie Ann Robinson, produced by Tom Rosenberg, Gary Lucchesi, Wendy
Finerman and Sidney Kimmel, and executive produced by Heigl via her production company
Abishag, One for the Money also star Jason O’Mara, Daniel Sunjata and Debbie Reynolds.
Heigl will also star in The Knitting Circle for HBO Films, executive producing the project with her
mother and producing partner, Nancy Heigl, under their Abishag banner, alongside Pine Street
Pictures. Craig Wright is writing the screenplay adaptation, based on the best-selling novel by
Ann Hood.
Heigl’s film credits include Life As We Know It, opposite Josh Duhamel, directed by Greg
Berlanti; the action comedy Killers, opposite Ashton Kutcher for director Robert Luketic; the
comedy The Ringer, Steven Soderbergh’s critically acclaimed depression-era drama King of the
Hill, Under Seige 2: Dark Territory, Stand-Ins and That Night. Her first feature film leading role
was in Touchstone Pictures’ My Father the Hero, starring opposite Gerard Depardieu.
On television, for six seasons, Heigl portrayed Dr. Isobel “Izzie” Stevens, the small-town girl
constantly battling for respect amongst her peers, on ABC’s critically acclaimed drama Grey’s
Anatomy. In 2007, Heigl earned an Emmy Award and a Golden Globe nomination for her
performance. Heigl also starred on the WB sci-fi drama series, Roswell.
In May of 2009, Katherine Heigl and her mother Nancy launched the Jason Debus Heigl
Foundation in honor of her older brother, who died much too young in an automobile accident
and whose strong, compassionate nature and great love of animals was the cornerstone of their
14 endeavors. The Heigls are using their resources to work directly to address the pet population
crises in Los Angeles and across the country.
Toward that goal, the Foundation launched the “Compassion Revolution” in September of 2010,
pledging over one million dollars to a variety of low cost and free spay/neuter programs in Los
Angeles and surrounding counties, as a key component to reducing the number of animals in
shelters. The Foundation also presently funds pet education programs, actively supports pet
adoption programs, and fund and supports small dog transport from local kill shelters to both no
kill shelters and rescues facilities throughout the country. To date the Foundation has funded
the transport of over 4500 animals out of high kill shelters to areas where they are rapidly
adopted.
Katherine Heigl also actively supports Donate Life, the organ donation foundation.
AMANDA SEYFRIED / Missy O’Connor
Amanda Seyfried has joined the group of Hollywood’s young leading actresses.
Seyfried is best known for her starring role in the Universal Pictures hit film “Mamma Mia!”
Seyfried highlighted her vocal skills as ‘Sophie’ the daughter of ‘Donna’ (Meryl Streep). The film,
directed by Phyllida Lloyd, was released in July 2008 and has grossed more than $600 million
internationally.
Seyfried will next be seen in New Regency’s sci-fi action thriller, “In Time,” from writer-director
Andrew Niccol. Justin Timberlake will also star in the film distributed by Twentieth Century Fox.
“In Time” revolves around a society in which aging stops at the age of 25 and where time has
become the currency. The film will be released on October 28, 2011.
Seyfried recently wrapped production on “Gone,” a thriller directed by Heitor Dhalia. The movie
follows Jill Parrish (Seyfried) who returns home to find her sister’s bed empty. Jill is convinced
that the serial killer who kidnapped her two years before has come back to finish the job. With
no one to turn to, Jill sets off on her own to find her sister. Summit will release the film on
February 24, 2012.
In 2011, Seyfried starred in Warner Bros’ “Red Riding Hood.” Produced by Leonardo DiCaprio’s
Appian Way, the film is directed by Catherine Hardwicke. Seyfried plays Valerie, the caped girl
who, after a tragic event, tries to solve the mystery of the wolf that’s been terrorizing her village
for two decades.
In 2010, Seyfried starred opposite Channing Tatum in the box office hit, “Dear John,” the
adaptation of the Nicolas Sparks (“The Notebook”) bestseller. In the film, Seyfried plays a young
woman who meets and falls in love with a soldier (Channing Tatum) while he’s on leave. Lasse
Hallstrom (“The Cider House Rules”, “Chocolat”) directed from a script by Jamie Linden. “Dear
John” grossed more than $100 million worldwide and is the highest opening film to date for
Sony Screen Gems.
In 2010, Seyfried also starred in the Summit film, “Letters to Juliet,” in which she plays a young
American who travels to Verona, Italy to answer letters people write to the fictional Juliet of
“Romeo and Juliet” fame. The film is directed by Gary Winick (“Bride Wars,””13 Going On 30”)
and also stars Vanessa Redgrave, and Gael Garcia Bernal.
15 Also in 2010, Seyfried starred in “Chloe,” an Atom Egoyan-directed thriller where she shares the
screen with Julianne Moore and Liam Neeson. Seyfried plays an escort (‘Chloe’) hired by a
successful doctor (Moore) to test her husband’s fidelity.
In 2009, Seyfried starred in the Fox Film “Jennifer’s Body.” In the film written by Diablo Cody
(“Juno”), Seyfried plays ‘Needy,’ the best friend of ‘Jennifer,’ (Megan Fox) a possessed
cheerleader who begins killing boys in a small town.
On the TV front, Seyfried received critical praise for her starring role in HBO’s Golden Globe
nominated drama, “Big Love.” In it she played ‘Sarah Henrickson,’ a teenage girl who struggles
with life in a polygamist family, headed by ‘Bill’ (Bill Paxton) and ‘Barb Hendrickson’ (Jeanne
Tripplehorn).
A Pennsylvania native, Seyfried started her career by modeling at the age of 11. She soon
turned to acting and landed her first contract role in 2000 as Lucy Montgomery on “As the World
Turns.” In 2002, “All My Children” signed her to the contract role of Joni Stafford.
Her big break, though, was in 2004’s “Mean Girls,” the Lorne Michaels/Tina Fey/Paramount
where she co-starred with Lindsay Lohan and Rachel McAdams. Together they won the Best
On-Screen Team Award at the MTV Movie Awards.
In 2005, Seyfried starred in the Sundance Film Festival favorite “Nine Lives.” Written and
directed by Rodrigo Garcia, the film also starred Sissy Spacek, Glenn Close, Holly Hunter,
Robin Wright Penn and Dakota Fanning.
In 2006, she appeared in “Alpha Dog,” directed by Nick Cassavetes, and starring Justin
Timberlake, Sharon Stone, Emile Hirsch, and Bruce Willis. She followed this with “American
Gun,” starring Donald Sutherland, Forest Whitaker, and Marcia Gay Harden.
Amanda currently divides her time between Los Angeles and New York.
CHRISTINE EBERSOL / Muffin O’Connor
Christine Ebersole has enchanted audiences throughout her performing career, from the
Broadway stage to television series and specials, films, concert appearances, and recordings.
Ms. Ebersole received virtually every Off-Broadway award and her second Tony Award for
Leading Actress in a Musical for her “dual role of a lifetime” as Edith Beale and Little Edie Beale
in Grey Gardens. Acclaimed by critics and audiences alike, the show was nominated for ten
Tony Awards, including Best Musical, and its CD was nominated for a Grammy Award.
Other memorable New York stage performances include her Tony Award-winning performance
as Dorothy Brock in the smash hit revival 42nd Street, Steel Magnolias, On the Twentieth
Century, Oklahoma, Dinner at Eight (Tony and Outer Critics Circle nominations), The Best Man,
and the recent revival of Noel Coward’s Blithe Spirit.. She has starred in five City Center
Encores! Productions, most recently receiving unanimous praise for her starring role as Margo
Channing in Applause.
Ms. Ebersole has appeared in many hit movies, including Amadeus, Tootsie, Richie Rich, Black
Sheep, Dead Again, Folks!, Ghost Dad, True Crime, My Girl 2, Mac and Me, and Confessions of
a Shopaholic. Ms. Ebersole has an extensive list of television credits including recent
appearances on Retired at 35, Royal Pains, Ugly Betty, Law and Order SVU, Boston Legal,
Samantha Who, and Will and Grace.
16 In concert, Ms. Ebersole has appeared in numerous halls throughout the country. Most
recently, she performed in the concert version of the opera The Grapes of Wrath at Carnegie
Hall. Previously, Ms. Ebersole participated in the Opening Night Gala of Carnegie Hall’s 118th
Season. She appeared with the San Francisco Symphony in their tribute to Leonard Bernstein.
After making her debut with the Boston Pops four years ago, she returned to Boston’s
Symphony Hall and Tanglewood to star as Desiree Armfeldt in a concert version of A Little Night
Music with the Boston Pops. In televised concerts, she has often appeared on PBS, including
her star turns in Ira Gershwin at 100: A Celebration at Carnegie Hall and the Rodgers & Hart
Story: Thou Swell, Thou Witty. In December 2010 she performed for the second time on the
Kennedy Center Honors.
A recording artist as well, Ms. Ebersole has released such albums as: Christine Ebersole: Live
at the Cinegrill, In Your Dreams, Sunday in New York, and the newly released Christine
Ebersole Sings Noel Coward.
For more information, please visit her website at:
www.christineebersole.com.
PATRICIA RAE / Madonna
Patricia Rae might have found her perfect niche working as a successful character actor with
roles running the whole gamut of film genres, but the road to Hollywood hasn’t always been an
easy one. If there’s one actor who has definitely paid her dues, Rae, hands-down, is the one.
In an industry based on fabricated reality and make-believe, Patricia Rae is the real deal! She
worked persistently for well over two decades, reverently knocking doors and dedicating herself
completely to her craft before seeing fruits in her acting career.
This native New Yorker of Colombian decent lived much of her professional life on the East
Coast where she worked in theatre, commercials, sketch comedy, independent film and TV. Her
grandmother who was running a boarding house while her mother was at work raised Rae in
Queens. With her mom remarrying and sporadically relocating, Patricia quickly developed a
sense of displacement which ultimately got her drawn to the art of acting for its premise relies
on the ability to embrace different personalities and be transported into different locations.
And so Patricia’s journey into the acting world began in elementary school when while in fourth
grade, the drama teacher spotted her and requested her to be in “Oliver Twist”. She then moved
to Florida in her teens where she resumed her scholastic activities. Although performing poorly
on an academic level, Patricia, with the support of the Drama club, was able to find a successful
and comfortable niche in acting. Finding her true calling, she earned a series of awards in
regional and statewide competitions with her drama troupe.
A brief semester spent in a small college in St Augustine Florida, provided Patricia with an
enlightening revelation: “Why waste money on getting an acting degree when you could study
the curriculum in New York? Off she went to the prestigious Lee Strasberg Institute where she
learned the painful technique of reliving past childhood experiences. Armed with a “thin”
resume, Patricia struck gold with her first professional job securing a co-starring role opposite
Don Johnson in the hit TV series “Miami Vice”. Sent on the set as an extra, her inquisitive mind
brought her to find out that a few supporting roles were yet to be cast. The casting crew was on
the set asking actors to audition before the director. When no one approached her, Patricia took
matters into her own hands and demanded to give it a try. She got the part and received her
SAG card all in one day.
17 After years spent in New York, she then decided it was time for a change. So she took the leap
and moved her family from New York to Los Angeles in search of that “breakthrough” role.
Ironically, landing that role of a lifetime in “Maria Full of Grace” playing the memorable Carla
sent her back to the Big Apple.
Much as been said about the performances in the movie; but it was Rae’s interpretation of
Carla, a pregnant Colombian woman living in a tiny apartment in New York with her family, that
stuck in people’s minds. Her spectacularly phenomenal performance earned her a litany of
accolades and a prestigious Imagen Awards nomination for “Best Supporting Role.”
But we wouldn’t expect any less from Rae - a bigger than life character who proves that acting,
beyond being a business, is most importantly an art.
With an impressively prolific IMDB resume, this working seasoned actress was seen on the big
screen in features films such as Swimfan, Nightstalker and the award-winning Maria Full of
Grace. On the small screen, she also recently appeared on several hit television series
including "Chuck", "The Mentalist", "The Closer", "Life" and "The Chicago Code".
It goes without saying, of course, that this Latina spitfire secured the job the unconventional way
– yet it was nevertheless all based on the merit of her immense talent and that one “Full of
Grace” role that has unforgettably, visually carved itself a place in cinematic history for
delivering one of the film’s most famously memorable scenes.
Patricia was scheduled to read for Justin Zackham (director) and Clay Pecorin (producer) in LA,
but as circumstance would have it, she was in NY for her daughter’s graduation. The director
had expressed great interest in her having seen her "Maria Full of Grace" performance. Hence
upon her manager’s insistence to casting, a message was relayed to Justin, proposing a
meeting on the East coast since the director was scheduled to fly back to the Big Apple within
the next few days after having seen an incalculable amount of actresses in LA. Justin
enthusiastically agreed and a special session was set in the NY office to see Patricia
Rae. Some things are just destined to be. This was one of them for the talented actress who
booked the gig on the spot!
Patricia Rae currently resides in Los Angeles. Rae is also an accredited Power Flow Yoga
teacher and provides classes twice a week to students of all ages in Studio City, California.
Patricia’s teaching approach is infused with laughter, compassion and an infectious enthusiasm
for life. Her students often comment on how funny she is, to which she replies, “If yoga isn’t
FUN– you’re doing something wrong!” And indeed, Patricia Rae’s “make it happen” attitude has
continuously proven to be one of her biggest assets. But then again, it is an easy motto to
embrace when it is backed-up by such exceptional talent and impressive acting abilities.
18 About the Filmmakers
JUSTIN ZACKHAM / Writer, Director, Producer
Writer, producer and director Justin Zackham attended film school at New York University. After
graduation, he wasted no time jumping into work. Zackham quickly moved to Los Angeles
where he directed his first feature film Going Greek (2001). The film, which he also wrote and
produced, was a comedy about a loner freshman named Jake Taylor who is forced to join the
coolest and wildest fraternity on campus. The comedy starred Dylan Bruno, Laura Harris and
Simon Rex and won a Teen Choice Award for comedy actors Harvey Silver and Oliver Hudson.
In 2003, Zackham worked as writer and producer on the documentary The Fastest Man in the
World (2003), which again starred Dylan Bruno alongside Corey Pearson and Charlie Talbert.
Following that, his next big project was the drama The Bucket List (2007), which he also wrote
and produced. The film starred Oscar-winning actors Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman. In
2007, it won the NBR Award at the National Board of Review.
Zackham’s second major feature film was the star-studded comedy The Big Wedding (2012),
with Robert De Niro, Diane Keaton, Katherine Heigl, Amanda Seyfried, Robin Williams and
Susan Sarandon among others. The film centers on a long-divorced couple who fake being
married for a big family wedding.
Zackham’s other accomplishments include working as writer and executive producer for the
television show Light Outs in 2011. He also won a Viewer’s Choice Award for Best Short Film in
1999 for Caught in the Act (1999).
***
CLAY PECORIN / Producer
Two Ton Films principal CLAYTON PECORIN is the lead producer on THE BIG WEDDING
which stars Robert DeNiro, Diane Keaton, Susan Sarandon, Katherine Heigl, Amanda Seyfried,
Topher Grace and Robin Williams.
As producer, Pecorin also recently wrapped production on Where Did You Sleep Last Night
which will be released in Feb 2013. Pecorin is also the Producer of NUBS which is scheduled to
start production spring 2013. Clayton entered the world of film as an investor in the independent
cult-classic GOING GREEK which premiered on Showtime Networks.
As an executive in publishing, media, and philanthropy for over 12 years, Pecorin worked on
myriad projects with Time Warner, McGraw-Hill, and Hearst, and has raised over $150 million of
debt and equity financing for a number of media ventures. Pecorin remains as an equity holder
in two lifestyle magazines as well as an investor in a Stephen Sondheim play.
In addition Pecorin is the Managing Partner of OTM Advisory, which worked closely with the
charities of Magic Johnson, Arnold Schwarzenegger, and business leader Michael Milken.
***
RICHARD SALVATORE / Producer
Part-Owner of the famous Magnolia Bakery in Manhattan along with his family, Richard was
born in the Bronx, right down the street from Yankee stadium. He graduated Hofstra University
while simultaneously owning and operating with his family the popular Greenwich Village
19 restaurant, Poppolini's. After 15 years of running several Poppolini's and bars around NYC, and
feeding a string of youngsoon to be stars including Ethan Hawke, Kevin Spacey, Anthony
Michael Hall, Camryn Manheim, Matt Dillon and Adam Sandler, he got bitten by the film bug and
drove cross country to try his hand at producing films. His parents, singer Geraldine Stuart and
theater producer, Steve Salvatore provided the creative genes to influence his new career.
***
AVI LERNER / Executive Producer
He is co-chairman of Nu Image, Inc. and Millennium Films, Inc. With more than 300 films to his
credit, he is one of the most experienced producers and distributors of independent films in the
international motion picture industry. Most recently, Lerner produced the highly anticipated
action hit “The Expendables” starring Sylvester Stallone, and “The Mechanic” starring Jason
Statham.
Lerner was born in 1947 in Haifa, Israel. He studied economics at the University of Tel Aviv and
served as a paratrooper in the Israeli Army. After a short period in the banking industry, Lerner
entered the film business in 1972 when he established the first and only drive-in cinema in Tel
Aviv. He went on to develop a chain of six movie theaters in Israel. In the late 1970s, Lerner
was the first to recognize the potential of the home video market. He effectively cornered the
Israeli home video market by acquiring the rights to more than 7,000 motion pictures.
In 1984, Lerner went to South Africa to produce the remake of “King Solomon’s Mines,” starring
Richard Chamberlain and Sharon Stone. The success of the film led to a sequel, “Allan
Quatermain and the Lost City of Gold,” and Lerner’s decision to sell his Israeli company and
relocate to Johannesburg, South Africa.
Between 1984 and 1992, Lerner produced more than 40 motion pictures in South Africa for his
company Nu Metro Productions and sold them all over the world. In 1986, he acquired the
Metro cinema chain in South Africa and the South African home video operations of Thorn EMI.
Over the next four years, Lerner built the Nu Metro Entertainment Group into one of the largest
and most aggressive entertainment companies in Africa. Nu Metro included four different
companies encompassing production, distribution, theaters and home video.
In 1991 and 1992, partly as a result of the political instability in South Africa and partly because
of Lerner’s desire to establish a Los Angeles based production and distribution company, Nu
Metro Ltd. (excluding the film production operations) was sold. The proceeds were used partly
to produce the first five films for the new group and partly to establish a new company in Los
Angeles.
In 1992, Lerner moved to America and established Nu Image with Danny Dimbort and Trevor
Short. In 1996, Nu Image formed Millennium Films to address the market’s growing need for
quality theatrical films and higher budget action features, while Nu Image continued to cater to
the lucrative worldwide home video market. Between the two divisions, over 230 films have
been produced since 1992.
Today, Lerner is one of the most respected and prolific independent film producers in the
industry. He is a member of the Board of Directors of both the Independent Producers
Association and the American Film Marketing Association. His company Nu Image/Millennium
Films currently produces between 14 and 15 independent pictures a year.
20 Under the Millennium label, Lerner has produced such films as last summer’s blockbuster “The
Expendables,” “The Mechanic,” starring Jason Statham, “Lonely Hearts,” starring John Travolta,
James Gandolfini, Jared Leto and Salma Hayek; “Black Dahlia,” with Hilary Swank, Josh
Hartnett and Scarlett Johansson, under the direction of Brian DePalma; “16 Blocks,” directed by
Richard Donner and starring Bruce Willis and Mos Def; “88 Minutes,” directed by Jon Avnet and
starring Al Pacino, Alicia Witt and Leelee Sobieski; “Day of the Dead,” directed by Steve Miner
and starring Christa Campbell, Nick Cannon, Mena Suvari and Ving Rhames; “The Contract,”
with Morgan Freeman and John Cusack; “The Wicker Man,” with Nicolas Cage and Leelee
Sobieski; “John Rambo,” with Sylvester Stallone and Julie Benz; “Mad Money,” with Queen
Latifah, Katie Holmes and Diane Keaton; and “Righteous Kill,” starring Al Pacino and Robert De
Niro, directed by Jon Avnet.
***
DANNY DIMBORT / Executive Producer
He began his entertainment career with the Israeli distribution company Golan-Globus Films
and became managing director within two years. In 1980, he moved to Los Angeles to join
Cannon Films as head of foreign sales. He then returned to Israel to produce several feature
films prior to joining Cannon/Pathé back in Los Angeles, where he was in charge of distribution.
President of International Distribution at MGM until 1991, Dimbort then formed Nu Image with
Avi Lerner and served as partner in charge of sales and marketing.
***
TREVOR SHORT / Executive Producer
He was born in Harare, Zimbabwe. He studied law at the University of Zimbabwe and obtained
an M.B.A. degree at the University of Cape Town, where he was awarded the Gold Medal of
Merit. After obtaining his law degree, Short entered the world of banking and commerce. He
headed the Corporate Finance Division at Investec Bank in Johannesburg before joining Nu
Metro Entertainment as Managing Director.
Following the acquisition of Nu Metro by a retaining giant, Short became Managing Director of
Nu World Services, a film production company based in Johannesburg. In this capacity, Short
produced films both in South Africa and outside the country.
***
MATTHEW O’TOOLE / Executive Producer
Mr. O’Toole is one of Hollywood’s hottest film producers with a string of successful movies
under his belt including The Expendables and Rambo, Brian DePalma’s The Black Dahlia and
the action-thriller, Streets of Blood, starring Val Kilmer, Sharon Stone, and 50 Cent. A
successful producer in his own right, Matthew works closely with Nu Image/Millennium Films as
Senior VP of Production and is one of the industry’s leading independent film producers. Right
now, Matthew just celebrated the release of the hotly-anticipated Expendables 2 as well as
Executive Producer on The Big Wedding with a star-studded cast including Robert DeNiro,
Amanda Seyfried, Katherine Heigl, Robin Williams, Susan Sarandon and Diane
Keaton. The Conan The Barbarian reboot is another one of Matthew’s upcoming movies due
for a 2011 summer release.
Matthew began his career in the film industry as a production accountant on a number of highprofile major studio productions including Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, The Secret
Garden, Judge Dredd, Evita, Othello and The Avengers. He quickly moved up the ranks to
become a senior production accountant and financial controller on some highly prestigious
movies including Troy and also two for Ridley Scott – Gladiator and Kingdom of Heaven. During
21 this period, Matthew was also responsible for a number of other productions including Billy
Elliott and Troy as well as HBO’s groundbreaking mini series Band of Brothers.
JOHN THOMPSON / Executive Producer
Has an extensive body of work in the thirty years that he has been making movies. He started in
the Italian film industry producing such films as Franco Zeffirelli’s “Othello,” nominated for two
Oscars, Claude Dannas’ “Salome” which was based on the famous Oscar Wilde play, Lina
Wertmullers’ “Camorra,” winner of four Donatello Awards (Italy’s equivalent to Hollywood’s
Academy Award), Liliana Cavani’s “The Berlin Affair,” and Paul Schrader’s “The Comfort Of
Strangers,” starring Christopher Walken, Rupert Everett, Natasha Richardson and Helen Mirren,
among many others during his time in Europe.
In 1998, Thompson returned to Los Angeles to oversee production for Millennium Films. Under
the Millennium Film banner, he has produced co-produced or executive produced over fifty
feature films. These include such movies as “American Perfekt,” “Shadrach,” “Some Girl”
(winner of the Audience Award at the Los Angeles Independent Film Festival in 1998),
“Guinevere,” “Prozac Nation,” “16 Blocks,” “King Of California,” “88 Minutes,” “The Black Dahlia”
and “Rambo IV,” to name a few.
More recently, Thompson produced last summer’s action blockbuster, “The Expendables,” as
well as “The Mechanic,” starring Jason Statham, and “The Son Of No One,” starring Channing
Tatum and Al Pacino, which debuted at this year’s Sundance Film Festival. He also produced
“Rambo,” Antoine Fuqua’s “Brooklyn’s Finest” with Richard Gere, Don Cheadle, Ethan Hawke
and Wesley Snipes, and “The Bad Lieutenant: Port Of Call—New Orleans.”
Next up for the busy producer is Simon West’s “Medallion” and “The Wedding,” starring Amanda
Seyfried, Robert De Niro, Katherine Heigl, Robin Williams, Susan Sarandon and Diane Keaton.
ANDREW JACKNESS / Production Designer
He has most recent film productions are the upcoming Showtime series The Masters Of Sex,
The Big Wedding, Everybody’s Fine, Killshot directed by John Madden. he has worked as
Production Designer on: Stanley Tucci’s Big Night, The Impostors and Joe Gould’s Secret. As
well as Reckless, Prelude To A Kiss, Longtime Companion and Blue Window directed by
Norman Rene. He designed The Love Letter, The Associate with Whoopie Goldberg, and also
with John Madden, Ethan Frome and Golden Gate. as well as On The Line, and the HBO
feature In The Gloaming directed by Christopher Reeve. For television he designed the pilot
episodes of the television series Lights Out, and Off The Map. He also designed the series Life
As We Know It.
His work has been seen on Broadway in the musical The 2010 revival of Bye Bye Birdie, The
Scarlet Pimpernel, as well as Precious Sons, Spoils Of War, Jules Feiffer’s Grownups, The Little
Foxes starring Elizabeth Taylor, Beyond Therapy, Whodunnit, Michael Feinstein On Broadway,
and Arthur Kopit’s Wings. As well as the Hal Prince production of Andrew Lloyd Weber’s Whistle
Down The Wind.
His regional credits include Carnival!, and Mr. Roberts at the Kennedy Center, directed by
Robert Longbottom, The Blonde, The Brunette, and the Vengeful Redhead at Cincinatti
Playhouse, and Dallas Theater Center, Charles Ludlam’s production of Die Fledermaus, and
Cosi Fan Tutte at Santa Fe Opera, Strauss’ Intermezzo at NYC Opera, Salome for
22 Glimmerglass Opera, South Pacific with Richard Kiley for Los Angeles Civic Light Opera,
Spoleto Festival USA; Savageland at Washington Opera, Frida for Houston Grand Opera. and
work for the Arena Stage, Berkeley Rep, the Mark Taper Forum, the American Repertory
Theater, Long Wharf theater, Seattle Rep., ACT Seattle, Hartford Stage Co., The Shakespeare
Theater, Yale Repertory Theater, St. Louis Rep., Dallas Theater Center, The Alley Theater,
Center Stage, Virginia Stage Co., The Intiman Theater, The Wilma Theater, The Geffen
Playhouse and the Williamstown Theater Festival.
In Europe he has designed for the National Theater of Great Britain, London’s Tricycle Theater,
and the Schiller Theater in Berlin.
Off Bradway, his work includes designs for Jam On The Groove with Ghetto Original dance
group, for the NY Shakespeare Festival, as well as work for the Music Theater Group, the
American Place Theater, the Roundabout Theater, Manhatten Theater Club, Circle In The
Square, the Dodgers BAM Theater Co., and Circle Rep. He has served as artistic associate for
the Second Stage, and Playwrights Horizons
As illustrator he collaborated with playwright Wendy Wasserstein on a children’s book titled
Pamela’s First Musical.. He is a graduate of The Yale School Of Drama, and has teaches the
Film Design program at NYU’s Tisch School Of The Arts.
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